Day Four: You Must Be Born Again
Nicodemus literally means “victor of the people,” “conqueror,” or “superior one.” This man belonged to a group of Pharisees who, in the day of Jesus, specialized in attempting perfect outward obedience to the Old Testament law. The Pharisees were the religious elite in Israel in the days of Jesus.
A man like Nicodemus likely would have fasted twice a week. He would have likely spent two hours a day in prayer at the temple and would have tithed on all of his income. Nicodemus was a model of good religion and had a reputation as a good man with good moral principles. True to his name, he would have been considered by many a “superior one.”
So, in this story, we see Nicodemus approach Jesus at night. He had been a religious leader in Jerusalem for many years, but he had never met a man like Jesus. Nicodemus had become a leader of religion, yet from what he had seen and heard of Jesus, he could not help but find some way to get to this man.
Side note: the reality is that many who honestly take the time to study the life of Jesus will find an inner burning of the soul that cannot rest until it finds its fullness in Christ that manifests.
Jesus looked at Nicodemus and said, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3).” These words troubled this “superior one” because he immediately began asking how such an action could be possible.
Could it be that all of his religious effort, and all of his previous gains, had truly amounted to nothing and that the true key to a relationship with God, to divine joy, could only be found through a new birth in Christ? “Yes,” cries the Christian!
We must not move beyond Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus before we ask ourselves the question of utmost importance: Have I truly been born again? It is upon this question that each person’s entire eternity depends.
The new birth described by Jesus is not simply a matter of resetting one’s life or finding religion. It is not simply an intellectual ascent to a religious belief. Indeed, there are many, like Nicodemus, who are religiously affiliated, who call themselves Christians, and yet have not received the new birth.
Jesus completed his words to Nicodemus by bringing the utmost clarity to his meaning. He said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (John 3:14-15).”
The reference to Moses in Numbers 21 is significant. A plague had overcome the people of Israel, and Moses lifted up a golden serpent on a pole in the wilderness. To all who would simply lift their eyes and behold the serpent, their illness would be removed. And so it is with Christ, our final sacrificial lamb.
To be born again is to look to Christ on the cross and receive his free gift of grace offered to you by the shedding of his own blood.
It is to come to the utter end of oneself and to know one’s only hope is found in Christ, their redeemer. Outside of beholding Christ, there is no forgiveness of sin.
A man like Nicodemus likely would have fasted twice a week. He would have likely spent two hours a day in prayer at the temple and would have tithed on all of his income. Nicodemus was a model of good religion and had a reputation as a good man with good moral principles. True to his name, he would have been considered by many a “superior one.”
So, in this story, we see Nicodemus approach Jesus at night. He had been a religious leader in Jerusalem for many years, but he had never met a man like Jesus. Nicodemus had become a leader of religion, yet from what he had seen and heard of Jesus, he could not help but find some way to get to this man.
Side note: the reality is that many who honestly take the time to study the life of Jesus will find an inner burning of the soul that cannot rest until it finds its fullness in Christ that manifests.
Jesus looked at Nicodemus and said, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3).” These words troubled this “superior one” because he immediately began asking how such an action could be possible.
Could it be that all of his religious effort, and all of his previous gains, had truly amounted to nothing and that the true key to a relationship with God, to divine joy, could only be found through a new birth in Christ? “Yes,” cries the Christian!
We must not move beyond Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus before we ask ourselves the question of utmost importance: Have I truly been born again? It is upon this question that each person’s entire eternity depends.
The new birth described by Jesus is not simply a matter of resetting one’s life or finding religion. It is not simply an intellectual ascent to a religious belief. Indeed, there are many, like Nicodemus, who are religiously affiliated, who call themselves Christians, and yet have not received the new birth.
Jesus completed his words to Nicodemus by bringing the utmost clarity to his meaning. He said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (John 3:14-15).”
The reference to Moses in Numbers 21 is significant. A plague had overcome the people of Israel, and Moses lifted up a golden serpent on a pole in the wilderness. To all who would simply lift their eyes and behold the serpent, their illness would be removed. And so it is with Christ, our final sacrificial lamb.
To be born again is to look to Christ on the cross and receive his free gift of grace offered to you by the shedding of his own blood.
It is to come to the utter end of oneself and to know one’s only hope is found in Christ, their redeemer. Outside of beholding Christ, there is no forgiveness of sin.
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